Top 10 Houston Retailers for Holiday Shopping
Looking for the perfect gift this holiday season? We’ve rounded up 10 of our favorite Houston retailers, which are sure to have gifts for even the pickiest recipient. From toy stores and fashion boutiques to plant stores and bookstores, Houston businesses make it easy to find gifts for everyone on your list while shopping local.
Manready Mercantile
For the men in your life, Manready Mercantile in the Houston Heights has a unique selection of clothing, homeware, and accessories. The rustic two-story shop is known for its hand-poured candles and leather goods, but you’ll find many other items to suit your guy’s taste. Surprise him with a made-just-for-him cologne, a cocktail mix or a locally made candle in a whiskey glass.
Fundamentally Toys
Founded in 1995, this toy store in Rice Village specializes in creative, developmental toys that are both entertaining and educational. Its selection includes a variety of board games, puzzles, and construction toys, including a wide selection of LEGO sets. You’ll also find arts and crafts kits and books. If you need ideas, the staff is always willing to point you in the right direction and they’ll gift wrap your purchases, so they’re ready to gift when you leave the store.
Brazos Bookstore
Brazos Bookstore’s simple, gallery-like digs with gray carpet and white walls, offer lots of sunlight for title browsing now that the store is open again for in-person shopping. Their impressive selection of contemporary and classic literature, non-fiction, and art, photography and history texts ensure that you’ll find just the right book for the reader on your list. Unsure about what to get? Browse the staff favorites or ask for a recommendation. Also available are books for children and a variety of stationery and gifts.
Forth & Nomad
This beautiful lifestyle market in Heights Mercantile may very well cover all of your holiday shopping. At Forth & Nomad, you’ll find thoughtfully designed apparel and accessories for men and women, gifts for baby, beautiful ceramics, candles and fragrances. Enjoy a cup of coffee from the shop’s in-house coffee bar after you shop or make an appointment at the candle bar and make your own candle. Wouldn’t that be a nice made-by-you gift?
The Flora Culture
This family owned, local plant shop will inspire you to bring more green into your life – or that of the person on your holiday shopping list. Even if you don’t have a green thumb, the staff at The Flora Culture is there to help you choose the right interior plant and teach you how to care for it. Their mission, after all, is to make plants attainable for everyone. Also check out the store’s selection of vases and planters, some of which are made by local Houston makers.
Renovate
Walking past Renovate’s bright green doors feels like entering a friend’s home – a gorgeous, magazine-worthy home, that is. No surprises there, we suppose, since Renovate was founded by Cathy Robinson Hutton, a fourth-generation Houstonian and interior designer. The shop in Spring Branch carries an array of gift items for the home, as well as clothing, jewelry and decor.
Kuhl-Linscomb
Have a hard-to-shop-for person on your list? Kuhl-Linscomb in Upper Kirby is the place to go. The local department store, which currently boasts more than 80,000 square feet of curated merchandise, carries an amazing selection of goods. Carve out an hour or two to wander the five showrooms, checking out the gifts, books, kids’ clothing and toys, apothecary, stationery and home goods.
Bering’s
What started as a hardware and lumber company in 1940 has evolved into a Houston shopping destination. With 16 departments ranging from stationery, china and clothing to kitchen items and hardware, Bering’s thrives thanks to its friendly customer service and extensive variety of products. The store has two locations in Houston in the Galleria area and West U.
Specs
The gourmand who loves to entertain will be thrilled to receive goodies from Spec’s. The Houston-based company has store locations throughout the city, but it’s hard to beat the headquarters in Midtown. This wine and spirits wonderland boasts a deli, humidor, and grocery department where you can find gourmet gift baskets or put together your own curated selection of meats, cheeses, and wines.
Space Montrose
If Etsy had a storefront, it may look like Space Montrose. Everything in this shop is hand-crafted by artists all over the U.S. Find Texas and Houston-inspired tees, quirky cards, handmade jewelry, and art prints, among others. Here’s where you go to find a unique and interesting gift for a person who appreciates things made with love.
